Nothing's Sacred

You've seen him on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart offering up his trademark angry observational humor on everything from politics to pop culture. You've seen his energetic stand-up performances on HBO, Comedy Central, and in venues across the globe. Now Lewis Black's volcanic eruptions can be found in Nothing's Sacred, a collection of rants against stupidity and authority, which oftentimes go hand in hand.

Digital Fortress

When the NSA's invincible code-breaking machine encounters a mysterious code it cannot break, the agency calls its head cryptographer, Susan Fletcher, a brilliant, beautiful mathematician. What she uncovers sends shock waves through the corridors of power. The NSA is being held hostage, not by guns or bombs, but by a code so complex that if released it would cripple U.S. intelligence.

The Kite Runner

Why we think it’s a great listen: Never before has an author’s narration of his fiction been so important to fully grasping the book’s impact and global implications. Taking us from Afghanistan in the final days of its monarchy to the present, The Kite Runner is the unforgettable story of the friendship between two boys growing up in Kabul. Their intertwined lives, and their fates, reflect the eventual tragedy of the world around them.

I was interested in this for two reasons. 1) Like everyone else, I'm interested to learn about Afghani culture in the wake of recent events, and 2) it's a local interest story to me in Fremont.

I didn't know quite what to expect in terms of plot, and was ready to go along with the autobiographical nature of the book.

Then I learned that the author is a bit of a weasel. A spineless, spoiled coward, with no character. He disappoints at every turn, and then spends the latter parts of the book trying to make amends. He does some good deeds, but they still reek of selfishness.

Finally, the writing itself is of mediocre quality, so even if you wanted to taste the truth of his character, the bitter with the sweet, the book is just plain not enjoyable.

Howard Carter has just made one of the great discoveries of all time, the unveiling of Tutankhamun's tomb. At the same time, Egyptologist Ralph Trilipush finds himself in a slightly less spectacular position. He has staked everything on a scrap of hieroglyphic pornography. Halfway around the world, an Australian detective sets off on a globetrotting quest to find a murderer. Or two. Or three. These events, seemingly unrelated, are about to collide in a spectacular yet utterly unpredictable fashion.

This is a fairly convoluted story that really requires the listener's full attention. All is not as it seems, which made for some cool scenes and "wait - did he just do that?" moments, but the whole thing is told through a number of different voices, some speaking "in the moment", others remniscing back...it's confusing at times. It takes you an hour or two just to figure out the relationship between the different characters.

That, in an of itself is not necessarily a problem - but it has to come together into a solid web at some point, which this story fails to do.

It tries a lame attempt at a dramatic ending, which again falls short, and leaves me wondering why I didn't quit after 4 discs like I wanted to.

Snow Crash

Neal Stephenson is a blazing new force on the sci-fi scene. With the groundbreaking cyberpunk novel Snow Crash, he has "vaulted onto the literary stage." It weaves virtual reality, Sumerian myth, and just about everything in between with a cool, hip cybersensibility - in short, it is the gigathriller of the information age.

Rich Dad, Poor Dad: What the Rich Teach Their Kids About Money - That the Poor and Middle Class Do Not!

People learn to work for money...but never to have money work for them. That's what Robert Kiyosaki says in this guide about what rich dads tell their children that poor dads do not. Browse all Rich Dad titles.

Robert T. Kiyosaki, the man behind the Rich Dad, Poor Dad series, teams up with expert real estate investor Dolf de Roos to bring you the best advice on the real estate market and how to become rich using your banker's money.

You can buy real estate.
Real Estate has tax advantages.
You don't have to buy it all - you can let the bank pay for 80-100% of it.
It doesn't need to be near your home.
You make money by cash-out refinancing, not by selling.

Positively Fifth Street: Murderers, Cheetahs, and Binion's World Series of Poker

In the spring of 2000, Harper's magazine sent James McManus to Las Vegas to cover the World Series of Poker. But when McManus sets foot in town, the lure of the tables is too strong: he proceeds to risk his entire Harper's advance in a long-shot attempt to play in the tournament himself. Only with actual table experience (he tells his skeptical wife) can he capture the hair-raising subtleties of poker that determines the world champion.

This is really 2 books. One about the author's participation in the poker tournament. The other is basically an all-out personal attack, backed by circumstantial evidence, against the folks suspected of murdering Ted Binion. I enjoyed the former, not so much with the latter.

I, Robot

They mustn't harm a human being, they must obey human orders, and they must protect their own existence...but only so long as that doesn't violate rules one and two. With these Three Laws of Robotics, humanity embarked on a bold new era of evolution that would open up enormous possibilities, and unforeseen risks.

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